Looking for a good GPS - Touring, no off road. Considering Garmin Zumo XT - thoughts?

[racoon]

So I tried to plot the route I am taking to my sister's house for Thanksgiving, and Google Maps gave me lots of problems.

<<<snip>>>

And the route I plotted on my computer included drag and drop changes to avoid the downtown areas of Nashville TN, Memphis TN, and Dallas TX.

<<<snip>>>

So I'm frustrated and confused, as I know I've used Google Maps before.
Time for more research...

So a bit more time with Google trying to figure this out and I found out that it's working exactly as Google designed it to work.
It is basically (re)plotting the route using what it knows about current road conditions at the time the route is being plotted.

Which could be entirely different tomorrow or even in an hour from now, based on real time road conditions according to Google.

And of course there's a workaround... which requires more work.

And this comment from @jcthorne is the answer:

Try it again with a longer distance, and multiple stops like gas stops and lunch along the way and ending up at a hotel.

So every time I want the route to vary from a "default" route, I need to add a stop so that it won't calculate a different route.

Another term used is to add a waypoint.

And yeah, that's going to take some time...

 

[CO Rider]

I have fought the route planning battle with several different Route Planners and GPS devices on multiple different motorcycle brands.
They all are finicky and time consuming, I found I spent more time trying to reconcile where I am with the planned route than enjoying the ride.
The last two touring seasons, about 19000 miles, we came up on a solution that works for us.
Each day starts with a hand written list of the roads we intend to ride that day. If we deviate from the list because a stop or different route presents itself, we don't care. We do what we want without concerning ourselves with a route.
Some time during the day, we figure out where we want to stop that night and plug in an address to our phone or the bike's GPS if it has one. We then go on our merry way and enjoy the ride. We don't concern ourselves with the routing since just putting in an ending address, the mapping software will recalculate the route as we go. Eventually we follow the route on the unit to find the hotel, or attraction.
I'm all for tech that enhances my life, but sometimes the tech was never really designed for how we wish it worked.
Next year will be our first touring season on the Spyder. I use an Android phone and we plan on using it just as I described above. I considered buying an XT2. But so far I just plug in an ending address on my phone, stick it back in my pocket and pick up the turn by turn audio on my Cardo com when I'm ready to head to the address. I might spring for a handlebar mount at some point, but that's way less expensive than a $700 GPS that does exactly the same thing as the phone I already own.
Works for us, YMMV.

 

[Sagebrush]

I have the Garmin XT2. Works well, nice big screen & easy - enough to see in daylight. Paired well with my helmet coms for verbal route instructions. Doesn't like charging via USB from my PC (probably the PC's fault) but a normal phone charger works well.

Communication using the Tread app on your phone is OK, but I'm old school... I like a wired connection better. I prefer mapping on a decent size screen rather than on a phone app and I use Google MyMaps these days.

Map the route in MyMaps -> export it in .kml format -> email the .kml to myself -> open the email on my phone & save the .kml -> find the .kml on the phone & open it with the Tread app. -> sync the imported route to the XT2, it'll import as a 'track' -> open the imported track, and convert it to a route using the XT2's tools.

Doesn't like charging via USB from my PC

I've found over several Garmin GPS units, that they like the Garmin USB cable best, and often don't work well with others.

 

[AmigoJack]

Looking for a good GPS. Touring, no off road. Considering the Garmin ZUMO XT. What are your thoughts?

I have it and it is great for my UTV off road as well as on my S2S.
It shows every road, trail, and highway, whether off or on road.

 

[ollicat]

So I tried to plot the route I am taking to my sister's house for Thanksgiving, and Google Maps gave me lots of problems. I could create the route using the Google Maps application on my computer, and then try to send it to my iPhone, at which point it only said I could email a copy of it to my email address.

And the route I plotted on my computer included drag and drop changes to avoid the downtown areas of Nashville TN, Memphis TN, and Dallas TX.

A bit of poking around, and it turns out there was an update to the Google Maps App for iPhone that I had yet to download and install. I did that, and it still was complaining. There is a requirement that you be logged into both places with the same Google account, so I logged out of both, logged in again, and repeated the steps.

And it sent the route to the phone, but NONE of the individual changes to the route.

In fact, it plotted a completely different route than the original baseline route, and without any of my changes.

So I'm frustrated and confused, as I know I've used Google Maps before.
Time for more research...

This exact same thing happened to me. One would think that when you carefully plan the route on google maps and then send it to your phone, it would remember all of the dragged changes. But nope, it defaults to the quickest route, even when logged in to the same account on both the computer and the phone.

So a bit more time with Google trying to figure this out and I found out that it's working exactly as Google designed it to work.
It is basically (re)plotting the route using what it knows about current road conditions at the time the route is being plotted.

Which could be entirely different tomorrow or even in an hour from now, based on real time road conditions according to Google.

And of course there's a workaround... which requires more work.

And this comment from @jcthorne is the answer:



So every time I want the route to vary from a "default" route, I need to add a stop so that it won't calculate a different route.

Another term used is to add a waypoint.

And yeah, that's going to take some time...

But if just choosing a curvy road, there isn't always a waypoint to select. This is frustrating.

 

[Bob from Florida]

New 2024 Spyder RT Limited rider - dealing with the “maps” on display adventure. Installed Carda Freecom 4X to both our helmets, Bluetooth to Freecoms only from Spyder with iPhone plugged in to glove box does work great for Carplay. However, wife’s android phone no dice. I could use Waze and plan routes but she can’t. Tried a Carplay emulator and Can Am’s software defeats that option. Thinking about the XT2 Garmin when a motorcycle friend suggested a Beeline Moto2.
https://beeline.co/pages/beeline-moto
This looks very interesting and the new app allows voice notifications without buying the monthly “extra features” subscription. Plan your curvy road route on the phone app, put phone away, check display for next turn with audio cues if your helmet allows, and arrive with less distractions.

 

[racoon]

But if just choosing a curvy road, there isn't always a waypoint to select. This is frustrating.

I opened the Google Maps on my computer, and told it to plot a route to a destination that was located just off Interstate 40 near where I live.
The default route it plotted was the fastest route from my home to I-40, and then I-40 to the destination.

So I dragged and dropped a twistier route to the destination, completely avoiding I-40.
And then at several places along the new route, sometimes after a turn and sometimes nowhere in particular, I right clicked on the route, which popped up a menu with several options.

One of the listed options in the popup menu was "Add a destination" which added a small dot to the route, and added that location to the route list in the upper left corner of the map.

I sent the directions to my iPhone.
And yes, the twisty route is what appeared on my iPhone, along with all places I had added a "destination" showing as stops along the route.

 

[PDXRTL]

A number of places, Cycle Gear and Amazon to name two that I've seen, are running early black Friday deals on the Garmin XT2 for $450. I don't know if it can get much better than that. Normal price is $600. A couple of times a year, the sale price is usually $500. Surprisingly, the XT is still going for $500, so you can now get the XT2 for less than an XT.

Yes, it could be an indication that Garmin is getting ready to release a new version so they are trying to reduce stock. But if so, the new one will probably have a price point well above $600 which is more than I'm willing to pay and I'm happy with a -1 generation.

I think it is time to replace my Zumo 396 and have a better companion/backup to the mischievous Apple CarPlay.